Although computer networks have become relatively common both in office and in home networking environments, such networks are typically fairly sophisticated and require significant processing power, electrical power, and infrastructure to work well. Some networking applications do not require so robust a network environment, but can benefit from the ability to provide electronic communications between devices.
One such example is the Bluetooth technology that enables a cell phone user to associate and use an earpiece in what is sometimes referred to a personal area network or PAN. Another example is a mesh network, in which a number of devices work together to form a mesh, such that data can be sent from a source device to a destination device via other devices in the mesh network.
Mesh networks often include multiple links from a network node to other network nodes nearby, and can thereby provide routing around broken links or paths by discovering other routes through the mesh to a destination node. New nodes to a mesh network are typically able to automatically discover the mesh network when they are activated in the vicinity of a compatible mesh network, and can easily join or synchronize with the network.
But, joining a mesh network becomes somewhat more complex in network environments where different frequencies or network identifiers are used. In ZigBee mesh networks, for example, different frequencies or channels can be used for different networks, such as to prevent nodes from one network from interfering with another network. A new node wishing to join a network must therefore find the appropriate frequency or channel being used by the intended network before it can join the intended network. This is performed in one example by searching among the various available channels until a mesh network is found, but confirming that the node has joined the intended network is difficult.
In addition to searching various frequencies or channels, some wireless mesh network technologies also use a network identifier, such as the PAN ID used in ZigBee networks. If a device receives data on a given channel but the data does not contain an identifier that matches the PAN ID of the network that has been joined, the data will be discarded as belonging to another mesh network. In ZigBee, node devices can be set to search for a particular PAN ID and join only that network, or can search for any available network and inherit the PAN ID of a network once it is found.
In environments where only one mesh network is present, new nodes will be able to quickly find and join the network. But, if multiple wireless mesh networks are present, it is difficult to determine which network a new network device has joined. There exists a need to provide wireless mesh network technology that addresses joining an intended network in a network environment with multiple mesh networks.